The Invisible Sky

The Invisible SkyROSAT, the ROentgen SATellite launched in 1990, has revealed an entirely new aspect of the night sky - that of objects emitting X-rays rather than the rays of light visible to the human eye. This lavishly illustrated book is the first to describe one of the most remarkable instruments in modern astronomy. It offers fascinating images and engaging accounts of a wide range of Solar-System and deep space objects such as Comet Hyakutake, the Sun, the Moon, and objects outside the Milky Way.

The first popular book devoted to X-ray astronomy. Written by two of the scientists who were instrumental in the design and launching of the satellite and a well-known science journalist (Hann) chronicles the beginnings, early failures, planning and construction, and deployment of this most famous of x-ray observatories. Astronomy outside of visible wavelengths is a very active research area. X-rays are used to explore spectacular and exotic objects like black holes, supernovas, peculiar galaxies, and pulsars. These are also objects from which much cutting-edge science about the nature of the cosmos is being discovered. In a large, coffee table format with beautiful illustrations. The book will look very much like Hubble: A New Window to the Universe, making it an excellent gift book.